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vendredi, janvier 08, 2010

Rajiv Shah Sworn in as USAID Administrator

With an overflow and enthusiastic crowd looking on, Secretary of State Clinton swore-in Dr. Rajiv Shah as the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Actually, it was a bit unclear for a moment as to exactly who was sworn-in, with Dr. Shah’s young daughter squirming next to him in her mother’s arms with her small hand also placed on the Bible as Secretary Clinton read the oath.

As these ceremonial events are apt to be, this was an occasion for celebration and congratulating new leadership at the primary U.S. agency responsible for promoting poverty reduction and economic growth in the poorest nations around the world. In attendance and adding their support were Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who lost Dr. Shah as one of his top aides, and Senator Richard Lugar, the senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and long-time champion of global development and the work of USAID. The audience and agency staff also offered an exceptionally warm and well deserved ovation for Alonzo Fulgham, a career Foreign Service Officer who served as acting Administrator since early 2009.

There was also a sense of relief that swept the room, noted most strongly by Secretary Clinton as she remembered earlier visits to the Agency with a “certain level of anxiety and frustration” that she noted is “all behind us now.” After nearly a year following President Obama’s inauguration, USAID has its leader.

But Administrator Shah faces daunting challenges as he takes over an Agency that by most accounts has been crippled for the past two decades by the loss of skilled, technical expertise, by the proliferation of other U.S. aid agencies and initiatives on which USAID served only at the periphery, and by growing demands and mandates from Congress and the White House without adequate tools and resources. He will immediately confront the a growing role USAID must play as part of the “three-Ds” of national security as the United States shifts its military and civilian strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also arrives mid-stream of several important policy reviews – the White House Presidential Study Directive on Global Development and the State Department Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review – and two major development initiatives on health and food security. He will immediately need to engage forcefully as final decisions are reached and activities launched.

In his remarks, Dr. Shah spoke of change needed at USAID: to pursue its work with partnership, not patronage; to rebuild agency capacity to “analyze, plan, and invest strategically for the long term;” to change the USAID business model and strengthen in-house development expertise. And in what seemed to be a challenge to his new staff, he noted how Secretary Clinton and President Obama have embraced development as “indispensable to American foreign policy” and that USAID was prepared to “seize this moment” and to “step up and deliver against these ambitious goals.”

Secretary Clinton expressed confidence in Rajiv Shah’s ability to confront the many challenges facing USAID and U.S. global development goals by noting that he once climbed Mt. Rainier and overcame the mountain’s unforgiving glaciers and unpredictable volcanic activity. This, she mused, has helped prepare him for working in Washington. Actually, Dr. Shah may look back on his climb as a leisurely stroll compared to what lies ahead in bringing change to an agency long overdue for major reform and navigating the institutional jungle of Washington.

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lundi, janvier 04, 2010

Bono’s Latest NYT Column: “Ten for the Next Ten”

ONE co-founder Bono’s most recent column for the New Year Times, on 10 ideas for the next 10 years, was published today. I wanted to share it because it calls attention to a few ideas that are in our area of work, including the rotavirus vaccine and the upcoming World Cup in Africa.

Below is an excerpt. You can read the full column here.

Happy New Year!

-Kathy McKiernan

Taking the Fight to Rotavirus

The thing is, they exist, these vaccines. They’re not a mere hope, like an AIDS vaccine. And one of the brightest bits of news in 2009 is that rotavirus vaccines have been shown to work not only in nations with low child mortality, but in the poorest countries, where diarrhea (not a killer in our house) caused by rotavirus infections takes the lives of 500,000 children a year. The World Health Organization just this summer issued a strong recommendation that rotavirus vaccinations be part of every nation’s immunization program. From this vantage point, I like the look of the next decade.

The World Cup Kicks Off the African Decade

It’s getting easier to describe to Americans the impact of the World Cup — especially the impact it will have in Africa, where the tournament is to be held this summer. A few years ago, Ivory Coast was splitting apart and in the midst of civil war when its national team qualified for the 2006 jamboree. The response was so ecstatic that the war was largely put on hold as something more important than deathly combat took place, i.e. a soccer match. The team became a symbol of how the different tribes could — and did — get on after the tournament was over.

This time round, for the 2010 World Cup, naysayers thought South Africa could not build the stadiums in time. Those critics should be red-faced now. South Africa’s impressive preparations underline the changes on the continent, where over the last few years, 5 percent economic growth was the average. Signs point to a further decade of growth to come. Canny investors will put more capital there. This in turn has the potential to shore up fragile young democracies across the continent.

It would be fitting if Nelson Mandela, who has done more than anyone for Africa’s rising, would kick off the opening ceremonies. If he shows up, the world will weep with joy.

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mardi, décembre 15, 2009

Malaria Griots

In West Africa, a Griot is a storyteller, a singer, a history keeper and an agent of cultural change. Echoing this tradition, ONE and Malaria No More are excited to announce the launch of Malaria Griots, a program designed to train passionate volunteers into powerful spokespersons in the fight against malaria.

What does it mean to become a Malaria Griot?

Selected Malaria Griots will kick-off their experience with an online course exclusively designed with Elliott Masie, the chair of the Learning CONSORTIUM and an early pioneer in distance learning and e-Learning. This five month, in-depth course—which will be housed on Blackboard Inc.’s online learning ProSitesTM platform—will include live discussions with leading malaria experts, access to cutting-edge articles, and the opportunity to participate in current malaria campaigns. As one of the inaugural students in the Malaria Griots program, you will witness stories of Africans fighting to overcome the disease, work with engaging multimedia content, and ultimately become a leading advocate in the fight against malaria.

Through this interactive course, ONE and Malaria No More will equip you with the tools to be a local advocate in your community, a spokesperson for the media, an engaging presenter at neighborhood church basement meetings and an educator to everyone you meet. We need more Griots working to change lives and help rid the world of disease. This is your opportunity to be a part of the story and to truly make a difference.

What You’ll Do
Successfully complete five month, intensive education course for Griot program
Develop a 12-month outreach and activity plan
Speak at public events about malaria and the work to eradicate the disease
Interact with local media, political leaders and their staffs
Participate in ongoing information sessions via conference call, video chat or in person
Recruit volunteers and other advocates for the malaria cause

What We’re Looking For
Public speaking experience
Ability to learn and navigate new technology; access to computer with audio/video capabilities
Willingness to learn
Persuasive communication skills
Time and travel flexibility within a state or region
Interest in global health and advocacy
Civic interest and understanding

What You’ll Walk Away With
One of the very first students of the Malaria Griot course, a pioneer!
Ability to interact with and learn from leading malaria experts
Unbelievable access to articles, videos, engaging online content
Opportunity to serve as a community leader on life-saving global issue
Opportunity to truly help put an end to malaria worldwide

You can find the application form here.

Also check out this clip about griots from Youssou N’Dour’s “I Bring What I Love”:

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1 Compliments

mardi, décembre 08, 2009

Ask President Obama for "A Global Gift"

It’s not just the holiday season, it’s budget season — when President Obama makes critical decisions impacting the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

That’s why we’re asking him to give “A Global Gift” and include $1.75 billion for the Global Fund in his Fiscal Year 2011 budget.

Click here or on the card below to send President Obama a holiday card reminding him how important it is for the US to invest in the global fund and the lifesaving work it does in the struggle against these deadly, but treatable diseases.

When you send President Obama a holiday card you’ll be reminding him that since 2003 the Global Fund has:

* Helped get lifesaving antiretroviral drugs to more than 2.5 million people and palliative care and prevention services for millions more;
* Placed 6 million people on tuberculosis treatment; and
* Provided 104 million bed nets to prevent malaria.

Add your voice and help keep this critical work going.

4:56

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lundi, décembre 07, 2009

Berman-Kirk FY2011 Budget Campaign a Resounding Success

On November 23, ONE members delivered a petition to Congressional offices in Washington, DC, asking members of the House of Representatives to sign the Berman-Kirk letter requesting President Obama to support a robust Foreign Affairs budget for Fiscal Year 2011. ONE members from nearly every Congressional district across the country signed on to the petition, totaling more than 30,000 names.

The letter, authored by Representatives Howard Berman (D-CA) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) in the House, was signed by 184 House members as of the deadline last Friday — breaking the record set last year for signers on a similar letter, and surpassing our goal of 170 representatives.

Of the 184 representatives who signed, 108 signatures came in after the petition was delivered, demonstrating the strength of the ONE’s advocacy efforts.

The companion letter in the Senate, authored by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), also earned 57 signatures thanks in part to phone calls from ONE members to their senators. You can see the full list of signers here.

The U.S. Global Leadership Council, ONE’s partner in this campaign, credits ONE’s effort with the letter’s success. Tod Preston, Director of Government Affairs at USGLC, said, “ONE has been a tremendous resource in mobilizing congressional support for the International Affairs Budget. Their grassroots’ reach across the country and on both sides of the aisle has been invaluable.”

Thanks to the petition signers, our volunteers, and the dedicated interns and staff at ONE for their parts in making this effort the success it is.

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lundi, novembre 30, 2009

New Celebrity Video: Coming Together as ONE

Twilight’s Ashley Greene just sent this email to ONE members giving them a sneak peak at the brand new PSA she helped create for ONE. She stars in it alongside her Twilight costars Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, and Jackson Rathbone, Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester, Jessica Szohr and Ed Westwick, Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere, High School Musical’s Corbin Bleu, 90210’s Tristan Wilds, Star Trek’s John Cho and Tropic Thunder’s Brandon T. Jackson.

The PSA will air for the first time on television during Wednesday’s Gossip Girl. Check it out. http://www.one.org/buzz.

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lundi, novembre 23, 2009

Where Do ONE’s T-shirts Come From?

We’ve just wrapped up ONE’s Next Top T-shirt Challenge and are very excited about the winning design submitted by ONE member Valerie Strecker. We hope these T-shirts can play a part in spreading the word about ONE and the great work ONE members are doing to fight poverty and disease.

A few of you have asked to know more about the T-shirts themselves and their story is definitely worth telling.

The cotton used in the making of the T-shirts is grown in Northern Uganda, by subsistence farmers, who each have approximately five acres of land on which they grow both food and cash crops. The cotton used in the ONE tee’s was harvested from a group of approximately 16,000 certified organic farmers, many of whom lived for years in IDP Camps (internally displaced peoples camps) as a result of the war, and who have only returned to their homes and fields in the past few years. Cotton is planted between May and June and harvesting takes place between December and February.

The cotton is hand-picked by the farmers and then delivered to local store-rooms for later delivery to the ginnery where the seeds and any trash is removed and the remaining fibre is baled. Baled cotton is transported to Kampala, Uganda where it is processed in a factory owned by Phenix Logistics into yarn and then fabric. There are approximately 63 people employed full-time in the spinning, knitting and dyeing sections of the factory. 10 tonnes of fabric (about enough to make 40,000 tees) takes about 2 weeks to produce.

Fabric is delivered to a nearby garment factory where approximately 260 workers produce up to 1000 tee-shirts per day. This factory would be able to employ approximately 1800 people and produce 120,000 tee’s per month if it could secure orders for these volumes, reminding us of the importance of working to expand trade and investment opportunities in the developing world.

Both the textile mill and the garment factory have worked hard to improve worker conditions, both have undergone social compliance pre-audits and are due to be audited for WRAP certification by the end of this year. Apart from fair wages, both factories offer other benefits such as :

-Lunch subsidies
-Employee discounts
-Free Christmas hampers
-First Aid and/or clinics on site with ready access to doctors and hospitals if needed

We’re proud of our T-shirts and we hope you’ll be that much more excited about getting yours from the ONE Store knowing that they not only look great and help fund ONE’s advocacy activities, but also represent an investment in sustainable agriculture and industry in Africa.

~Aaron Banks

4:41

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jeudi, novembre 19, 2009

“I lived hunger. I suffered it.”

Earlier this week, I had the chance to talk with Thomas Awiapo, a Ghanaian from the country’s Upper East Region and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) staff member. As a child in Ghana, Thomas was a beneficiary of CRS school feeding programs. Now, as an adult, he works for CRS Ghana and travels to the U.S. annually to tell his inspiring story to American Catholics at schools, parishes and communities. A powerful story to help wrap up our Food Security in Focus series this week!

Food security is a personal issue for you, isn’t it?

I lived hunger. I suffered it. I lost two siblings to malnutrition. I saw them die—skinny and bony. Every single day I fought for a bowl of food. There was nothing called breakfast or lunch. We were just lucky to get one bowl of food a day.

The only reason I survived was because I went to school. Catholic Relief Services built a school in my village, but I hated it. No one in my family had ever been to school. I didn’t know the benefits. So I went there merely to search for food. I thought the food was free—but it wasn’t. If you wanted snack, you were sentenced to one class and if you wanted lunch, you were taken hostage in another class. As CRS kept fixing lunch, I kept going to school, and today I hold a master’s degree in public administration. That’s the power of a little snack.

Today, I put three meals on the table for my children—and they stay in school because I understand that education is liberation from hunger. Education is the way to break the chains of poverty and hunger. I lived it. I survived to tell the story.

So is food security an issue you still deal with on a daily basis?

Every day: Now we’re working with local farmers—training them, giving them better seeds, helping to teach them how to produce more in their villages. Before, people were mostly just producing food for subsistence. But now we’re trying to encourage farmers: if you grow peanuts, how can we help you? What seeds, training and equipment do you need? How do you find the best markets? Farmers often sell their items at the wrong time, when the price is cheaper. But we help them find a market where they can sell their goods at a good price and make as much profit as possible.

How has climate change impacted farmers in Ghana?

Most people didn’t understand what climate change was. But now you can see so clearly. There was always a rainy season and a dry season. Each lasted six months. Every year it was the same. But now if we get three months of rain, we’re lucky. And the rain that comes is either too late or too early or too much.

Farmers can work as hard as they want, but without rain they are lost. When I visited Wisconsin, I saw them using sprinklers. It seemed so easy. But our government in collaboration with local and international NGOs is trying to support and educate farmers, creating awareness about issues of global warming.

Are they educating just about climate change?

They’re providing education on many issues—like deforestation. Trees here are a source of fuel. You cut down trees to build homes. You need them to survive. But with education, we are trying to teach that if you cut this tree, then plant another in its place. The education is slow, but we’re making progress.

How have the farmers reacted to this help?

They are very excited. Ghana is said to be comparable to Oregon in size. Oregon has 4 million people. Ghana has 21 to 22 million people. The need is great but resources are limited. But I believe there are enough resources in Ghana to feed Ghanaians, just like the United States has enough resources to feed all Americans. We just need to continue to advocate for more just and accountable systems and structures that are beneficial to all without exception.

We’re all working together—government, NGOs, universities and other stakeholders—to try and provide support. But we must remember what President Obama said when he visited Ghana—aid is not an end in itself. The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it is no longer needed. We have to make sure we have the right systems, the right people with the right intentions and many good things can happen. The trick is how to find all three.

~Kara Arsenault

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9 Compliments

mercredi, novembre 18, 2009

We Have a Winner!

Last month we did something we’ve never done before. We asked ONE members to design a new T-shirt. At the time, we had no idea what to expect, but your response was nothing short of staggering.

ONE members from around the globe submitted more than 500 designs, our expert judges selected 3 finalists and more than 58,000 of you voted for your favorite. And now, we have a winner in ONE’s Next Top T-shirt challenge.

The winning T-shirt design, seen below, came from Valerie Strecker of Slidell, Louisiana and it’s available for pre-order in black and white, and in both men’s and women’s styles from the ONE Store.

As Chalya Shagaya said in the email kicking off this contest, “What we wear says a lot about who we are…The right design has the power to go even further, and spark a global conversation. It starts with “I love your shirt, what does it mean?” and ends with greater awareness of the role we can all play in ending poverty and disease in some of the most vulnerable places on earth.”

Hopefully this T-shirt, and all the other great stuff available in the ONE Store, can play a small role in starting that conversation. Because we know the power of your voice in the fight against global poverty, and now we also know the power of your creativity.

A big thank you to everyone who submitted a design. We’re all inspired by your talent and commitment. Also, to our judges who had the very difficult task of choosing our two runners-up: Alex Robbins and Danny Hass.

Keep watching your email for more on our new T-shirt, because later this week we’ll be photographing the guys from the multi-platinum band Daughtry and “Friday Night Lights” star Connie Britton wearing the shirt. We’ll be sending those photos your way, along with an opportunity to order the shirt. But there’s no reason to wait, visit the ONE Store to pre-order your shirt (they also make great holiday gifts!) today.

-Ivey Helmick

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